FILE — Police investigate the neighborhood where 13-year-old Andy Lopez was shot yesterday afternoon in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, October 23, 2013. Andy Lopez was shot by two Sonoma County deputies patrolling Moorland Ave. and West Robles Ave. while he was carrying toy replica guns.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

FILE — Police investigate the neighborhood where 13-year-old Andy...

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FILE — Police use a metal detector while they investigate the neighborhood where 13-year-old Andy Lopez was shot yesterday afternoon in Santa Rosa, California, on Wednesday, October 23, 2013. Andy Lopez was shot by two Sonoma County deputies patrolling Moorland Ave. and West Robles Ave. while he was carrying toy replica guns.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

FILE — Police use a metal detector while they investigate the...

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FILE — In this photo provided by the Lopez family is a picture of Andy Lopez, who was killed by sheriff's deputies in Santa Rosa, Calif. Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013. Northern California sheriff's deputies have shot and killed the 13-year-old boy after repeatedly telling him to drop what turned out to be a replica assault rifle, sheriff's officials and family members said. Two Sonoma County deputies on patrol saw the boy walking with what appeared to be a high-powered weapon.

Photo: Associated Press

FILE — In this photo provided by the Lopez family is a picture of...

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FILE — Rodrigo Lopez (l to r) and Sujay Cruz, parents of 13-year-old Andy Lopez Cruz, who was fatally shot October 22 by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy, stand next to attorney Arnoldo Casillas as he speaks during a press conference on Monday, November 4, 2013 in San Francisco, Calif. A federal lawsuit has been filed by the family of 13-year-old Andy Lopez Cruz who was fatally shot on October 22 by a Sonoma County sheriff's deputy.

Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle

FILE — Rodrigo Lopez (l to r) and Sujay Cruz, parents of...

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FILE — A friend of Andy Lopez Cruz stands near the memorial that went up after Andy’s Oct. 22 death and burned early Thursday.

(01-29) 17:33 PST SANTA ROSA -- The investigation of the Sonoma County sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a 13-year-old boy in October after mistaking the youth's toy gun for an assault rifle has been handed over to prosecutors for a decision on possible charges, officials said Wednesday.

Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said her office had received the investigative report into the shooting death of Andy Lopez from Santa Rosa police, prompting her to assign a senior prosecutor and investigator to review it. Her office must determine whether Deputy Erick Gelhaus will face criminal charges for fatally shooting the eighth-grader.

"Having received these reports, it is time for my staff to begin the process of thoroughly reviewing them and considering all the facts and circumstances within the context of the guiding legal principles," Ravitch said in a statement.

The prosecutor noted that although a county protocol gives her office three months to investigate before making a determination on any criminal culpability, "I caution the public to remember that this timeline is not a legal requirement, but a recommendation."

On Oct. 22, Gelhaus and a deputy he was training pulled up behind Andy, who was holding what turned out to be a replica AK-47 pellet gun in his left hand near his home outside Santa Rosa. A witness heard Gelhaus yell at the boy twice to drop the weapon, police said. Gelhaus later told investigators that he fired when the boy turned and the barrel of the rifle rose toward the deputies, authorities said.

The teen's shooting set off numerous protests and rallies.

Gelhaus has since returned to duty after being placed on leave. He is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the youth's family accusing him of having a history of excessive force and questionable judgment.